


just a mark inlove

by goodthing (goodtimings)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (???), Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Cute, Fluff, I don't know what I'm doing, Jaehyun is Hyung???, M/M, Mark Centric (?), Pining, Young Love, donghyuck is shy shy shy, markhyuck, school au, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-10-31 12:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10898934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodtimings/pseuds/goodthing
Summary: Mark REALLY likes Donghyuck and the world isn't making it any easier.





	1. one

Mark feels pretty sure of himself when he dances. Or when he raps. Or when he writes a good English paper on the really, _really_ odd occasion.

Donghyuck sits across from him, a new student with doe-eyes and brown hair. Right then, Mark doesn’t even know what the term ‘Hello’ means, and he’d rather become invisible than think about how little sense he’s making.

The day had began as bad as all days did, Jaehyun had ruffled his hair _just_ as they'd entered school, and it's not like Mark cares all that much about how his hair looks, but _really Jaehyun?_ Not only Jaehyun, but his roommate Renjun had decided that he _totally_ knew how to work a coffee machine, when in fact, he still struggled to boil water for tea. _‘Baby steps!’_ the red haired boy had yelled as he ran out the door for his new job, with his shirt buttoned up wrong. Mark awaited for lunch, where he’d hear all the complaints of working an early shift, but 11x more exaggerated.

And here we are now, Mark trying not to make it obvious while he makes side-glances at the new kid every 30 seconds.

Mark swears the English teacher hates him, maybe it’s because he writes a good paper on really, _really_ odd occasions or because he put soy sauce in his coffee as a dare – _2 years ago_. It doesn’t matter because Mark hates the English teacher right back for giving him average grades and unnecessarily snarky comments, and also because he’s thrown Donghyuck at him just now. Quite literally.

Mark had simply been trying to hide his face and _fast-walk the hell out of there_ when Mr. Shin decided to hurdle the poor kid at Mark, _‘Look after him, take him round, make friends!’_ He’d said faking excitement before returning to his normal glare, _‘I don't care.’_

Should Mark be irritated? Probably, but right now there are more important things happening, such as: the frightened Donghyuck standing beside him, chewing on his lip nervously.

 _A very pretty thing_ is the first thought that comes to Mark’s dumb head and he’s never wanted more than to duplicate himself so he can run himself over.

It takes Mark a whole 45.78 seconds to stop imagining running over himself before he speaks, ‘Hey, I’m Mark.’ Donghyuck looks nervous, he’s still biting his lip and _can he stop before Mark starts making up weird fan fiction lines in his head again._ ‘H-hi, I’m Donghyuck.’

His voice is soft at the edges and Mark thinks he could write a whole rap on this boy even though they met about an hour ago. (2.4s ago if you start from introductions)

‘Do you wanna head to the cafeteria?’ Mark forces the words out. (Siri, how to speak?)

The boy in front of him nods and the two walk through the mostly empty corridor until they reach the cafeteria. At this moment Mark feels particularly sympathetic, the cafeteria is a sight indeed. By the time they’re half way through the _walk of hell_ and the odd stare is thrown their way, the volume level is enough to make Mark’s ears bleed.

‘Mark hurry up and sit, I need to complain about my new job, like, now.’

Mark rolls his eyes and sits across from the red haired boy, patting the seat beside him for Donghyuck. Of course Renjun's voice is just as loud. The red-haired boy glances at Donghyuck for a second before turning to Mark, 'So why didn’t you stop me from taking this job?? I can’t even boil water for tea _and that’s pushing a button.’_ (Fun fact: Renjun put _milk_ in the jug, _‘I was on a call with Jeno!’_ he’d argued while Mark cleaned the jug and prayed their dorm wouldn’t smell like curdled milk every time he boiled water.)

‘I _did,_ ’ Mark argues, ‘But _somebody_ insisted _‘Baby Steps!’_ and ran out the door with his buttons done up wrong this morning.’ Renjun glares at Mark and Mark glares back. Yes, things were normal.

‘Wait, I missed the part where you introduced us to the new kid.’ Jisung pipes up.

‘That’s because I didn’t,’ Mark glances at Renjun purposely, ‘This is Donghyuck, he’s new here, Don’t Ruin Him.’ _And don’t pretend like I didn’t see the heart eyes you were giving him, Na Jaemin._  
Renjun looks offended for about 2 seconds. Donghyuck waves shyly and it's so pure Mark almost combusts.

‘I’m Chenle, nice to meet you!’ ‘I’m Renjun, the roommate.’ ‘I’m Jeno!’  
‘I’m handsome-Jaemin,’ ‘Jaemin don’t make him puke on the first day, I’m Jisung!’

Donghyuck looks overwhelmed but Mark knows it’ll pass, he fit well already. For now, he makes a quick reminder to ask Siri 'How to teach your idiot friend how to make coffee?'

 

* * *

 

When Mark arrives home later in the evening Renjun is on the sofa calling Jeno. The two had seen each other at school earlier, yet they felt the need to call every night.

 _'You're just jealous.'_ Renjun would grin every time Mark complained. (which was almost everyday minus the days he came home late because dance club went overtime)

Mark had to disagree, he enjoyed spending his nights writing rap and practicing dance moves in front of his bedroom mirror.

'Chinese?' Mark mouths to Renjun, who screws up his face but nods. Apparently the Chinese takeaways here weren't _anything_ like the real thing, but for two boys who can't cook, it always filled the gap.

Mark watches his roommate hang up the call as he takes out his own phone to order. It's been a month since Donghyuck’s existence… existed. The new kid had ended up as a lot more than Mark expected. Not to overreact but when he'd told Mark he liked to sing, Mark almost shed a tear. Scenarios where they wrote songs together when they should be writing papers popped into his head, he’d rap and Donghyuck would sing. The thought made Mark’s cotton-candy heart swell.

‘Stop looking constipated, what’s wrong?’ Renjun spoke, bringing Mark back to reality.

‘It’s just…’ To say it... _’Renjun what should I do?????????’_ Mark whines. Renjun pats his lap and Mark lies down with his head resting on the red haired boys' legs.  
‘Tell Dr. Huang what’s wrong.’ Renjun sympathises, pretending to hold a notebook and pen.

‘Okay listen dude, I swear I love writing raps and dancing in my mirror every night instead of doing homework, but why does my heart go _Du **Ud**_ Du _m_ D _uD_ u **mM** not _Dum Dum Dum_ now-days??????’ Renjun gives him a look, the _“Oh, my poor dumb roommate”_ look. ‘Don’t look at me like that! I taught you how to make coffee 2 weeks ago!’ Mark pouts.

‘Pass me your phone.’ Renjun states, dead serious. Honestly, Mark should know better than to comply, but it's been a month since his heart started beating dumb and he doesn’t think he can take having to hide his fanboying much longer. (You know the, _jumping, silent screaming, ugly-big smile_ and clenched fist because _wow what he just did was so cute but if I scream now I’ll look like I drank one of Renjun’s coffees_.) _(How Renjun kept the job was beyond Mark)._

The mildly evil smile Renjun wears while typing makes Mark worry. Last time he'd given Renjun his phone, he’d taken 209 selfies, spammed his facebook, liked all his own posts on instagram and commented ‘Renjun is so hands0me’ on the school's Facebook page.

‘Done, thank me later.’ And that was it. The door bell rings and Renjun doesn’t move so Mark makes yet another mistake by leaving his phone with Renjun while he strides to get the Chinese.

The chinese food…. ’RENJUN WHY IS JENO HERE YOU SEE EACHOTHER EVERY DAY AT SCHOOL AND HIS ROOM IS LIKE, APPROXIMATELY 100 METRES AWAY WHY CAN’T YOU JUST WALK TO HIS PLACE FOR- once.’ Mark yells, realising he screamed that whole sentence and his throat was dry.

‘Nice to see you too, Mark,’ Jeno grins, sliding past him and stealing his spot on Renjun’s lap.  
Mark pouts, ‘Not fair.’ The two were already excitedly chatting and taking probably a thousand selfies on his phone before he could stop them.

The next time when the doorbell rings, it's actually the food. Mark feigns moodiness as he quickly stuffs his face. ‘I’m going to see if Donghyuck’s bored aswell, don’t do anything…weird.’ Mark squints at them as he reclaims his phone and walks out the door.

In hindsight he should’ve brought a jacket. And called Donghyuck before he showed up in front of his door.

While he walks in the cold finding the trip to Donghyuck’s already familiar, he checks his phone quickly. He’s embarrassed to say it takes him, like, 5 minutes to find what Renjun had done. The embarrassment doubles, then triples.

 ****  
‘Mark’: _Mark keeps whining 2 me abt his heart going duDumM DuUdUmb around you, pls fix him alr - RJ_  
(seen 9:24pm)

  
‘HUANG RENJUN!’ Mark yells frustratedly, Renjun is dead when he gets home and Mark won’t even say sorry after he whips his ass. He earns a few stares, but it's not like that matters because he's already at Donghyuck’s dorm, and crap, _since when was the walk this short?_

Mark genuinely considers getting on a plane to New Zealand and changing his name to Alexander Smith. And he can’t stop mentally running himself over with Jaehyun’s car. In the time he's procrastinating, he even gets Jaehyun’s number up.

 _‘Yes Donghyuck, I’m literally 2 metres from your door.’_ A voice from Mark’s right appears.

The boy holds about five full plastic bags and looks about to drop his phone any minute. Mark scurries to help the poor kid without thinking. ‘Hey man, need a hand?’ He offers, just catching the boys phone before it falls. _+1 to Mark for good reflexes._

The boy smiles gratefully before his expression turns suspicious. _Reasonably so,_ Mark thinks, after all he is standing in front of this boys' room, who he assumes is Donghyuck’s new roommate.

Two days ago Mark had flopped down on the spare bed beside Donghyuck's own, grumbling about Mr. Shin as the younger boy laughed and agreed. They'd only met 30 days ago but Donghyuck's 'spare' bed was basically owned by Mark and Mark's spare mattress was pulled out almost every weekend. The two were friends before they could even acknowledge it. Except that Mark still wanted to run himself over with a car because his heart kept being dumb every time Donghyuck smiled or laughed or leaned on him or breathed.

 _'Does Mark have a little crush?'_ Jaehyun would sing every time he visited. Mark would end up moodily pouting the whole time so, of course, Jaehyun was visiting more just to see it.

It seems that Donghyuck's roommate has finally arrived and Mark can’t quite find it in himself to be particularly happy about it. Although it is a relief to know that if Donghyuck accidentally trips and knocks himself out, someone would find the body. (Scarily possible, he's extremely clumsy Mark discovers within the first week.)

‘I-i’m Mark, I was just heading home actually!’ _Okay Mark ignore the fact he didn't even as your name and walk away, walk as fast as you ca-_ Mark still has the guys phone. When he turns back, The Roommate hasn't moved at all, looking at him confusedly.

 _Ugh._ Just then Donghyuck opens the door. Great, now Mark really can’t do anything.

‘Lucas! Finally dude, I’m starvin- _Mark?’_ Donghyuck’s beautiful face looks lovely even in the shitty lit halls of his dorm house, which Mark thinks is beyond unfair. 

Mark smiles sheepishly, handing back ‘Lucas’ ’s phone and preparing to bolt out of there as fast as the chicken meme he saw yesterday.

‘Well… I’ll be off!’ Mark chirps, putting happiness on heavy. And then he's out of there.

Mark wants to laugh and cry and disappear, yet when he doesn't hear Donghyuck call for him to come back, his heart sinks, just a little.

When he arrives home his phone hasn’t rang once and he flops onto the floor without any thought.  
‘Leave me here to die, kids.’ He yells monotonously. Renjun and Jeno pull him up and hug him, but when even a JenJun hug can’t make him feel better, he knows he's a goner.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i don't know what i'm doing but i hope this was okay?????? pls leave me some feedback <333


	2. two (끝)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally

It's been two days. Yes, only two days. Mark is well aware that most of the dumb fanfics he indulges in at 2am talk about the _'after one month'_ or at the very least, _'after a week',_ but Mark is not very patient. 

Monday began as all Mondays did, terrible. From the moment Mark wakes up he realises what the biggest mistake of his life was – waking up.  
To begin with, it was _freezing_ , screw Renjun and his one heater that he refused to share. Mark had slept in the living room too many nights of the winter, because for _some reason_ it was always warmer in there. Yes, life was _beyond_ unfair.

Jaehyun had paid a visit the night before causing Mark to deem the whole night _'Terrible, would not ask for again.'_  And Renjun was running late for his early morning shift this morning. That boy did not have a _single clue_ how to be quiet. Especially when, _you know_ , YOUR ROOMMATE IS TRYING TO IGNORE THE FACT THAT HE EXISTS AND THAT IT'S MONDAY.

So Mark's a little grumpy.

All weekend his phone had only gone off once. Once, and it was from _Mr Shin_ reminding him he had to present to the class on Monday. Aka, Today. Aka, _The Worst Day in Mark's Entire Existence._

At the front gate of school as Jaehyun moved his arm suspiciously close to Mark's head, Mark glared so strongly he's sure he was literally exerting darkness. 'Jaehyun, if you touch my hair one more time I will actually duplicate myself, and run you and the other me over with your car.' Jaehyun had grumbled, _'What crawled up your ass and died'_ , but at least he'd left Mark alone.

Every period leading up to lunch from there was hell. In Maths with Renjun, Mark had had his cell phone rudely torn out of his hands by his own roommate. Who then proceeded to get said phone confiscated till the end of the day. In Chemistry with Jaemin and Jisung, Jisung accidentally lit Mark's hair on fire with a splint, and in PE Chenle kicked a ball into Mark's face. A _soccer ball._

''This is getting ridiculous, the only one who hasn't hurt me is Jeno and I wouldn't hold it against him." Mark grumbles at the lunch table, moodily chewing on his food and glaring at the unopened milk cartoon on his tray.

"Oh, here comes Jeno with Donghyuck!" Chenle chirps, ignoring Mark with his dumb positive 'Golden Boy' aura.

At the mention of Donghyuck's name, Mark perks up for a slight second before he resumes glaring at his milk cartoon and silently wishing to disappear. The boys talk about the usual stuff but all Mark can think about is how nice his own shoes are. When he finally looks up, Jeno has his arm around the younger boys' shoulder and Mark finds a new victim to glare at.

'Hey, Ma-" Jeno starts,"-Oh man, Oh MaN, my friend from, uh, New Zealand, Becky, said she wants to call now so I, um, gotta go." Mark stutters before anything else can be said, ignoring the fact he wasn't even touching his phone. No, _'hey Mark'_ was changing his mind, not even the Donghyuck who had looked everywhere but Mark the whole time.

And that's how Mark finds himself sitting in the senior room with Jaehyun and his friends for the rest of lunch.

Jaehyun's friends consist of Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta and Doyoung. They sat in their own little corner talking about whatever seniors talk about every lunch, and Mark knows it must be bad if he's seeking advice from _Jaehyun._

"Mate, I don't know what to tell you, it's been two days but you've threatened to run me over with my own car already. If your heart is going crazy when you see him, don't you think, I don't know, _you should properly confess to him????"_ Jaehyun states like it isn't the worst idea he's ever come up with.

"Jaehyun, I know I came to sit with you and all, but you're kidding me right????" Mark groans, "He didn't message me once, Jaehyun, I've been _'seened'_  !"

"My poor baby brother," Jaehyun says genuinely sounding pitiful and simultaneously sarcastic. Mark thinks that's a talent in itself.

Johnny, Jaehyun's stupidly tall giraffe of a boyfriend nods, 'Jaehyun's right though, just tell him how you feel. It's not like you're being subtle anyway.'

Mark glares at the milk cartoon he brought with him just so he could glare at something, if only he really did know a Becky from New Zealand, then at least he might find some decent advice.

Soon the rest of the boys resume their conversation and Mark is stuck replaying his favourite times with Donghyuck like a sad movie. It's been one month but Donghyuck has literally tripped over approximately 2 times everyday. Mark was not one for skinship but the many times the younger boy clung onto him like a Koala, after his speech, after his performances, after Mark gave him his last slice of cake, made Mark's heart ache a little. How Donghyuk's eyelashes were so pretty when they cast shadows in the early morning and how he would stare at Mark and smile without having a damn clue what he was doing. How his baby hands would immediately move into a flower position everytime they took a selfie. How he always wore red if he was happy, and blue if he was sad. The lame, dumb little things that Mark remembers.

When the bell rings and Mark's attempting to walk as slowly as he possibly can to Mr. Shin's class last period, he considers the idea that maybe Jaehyun and Johnny were right, that _maybe,_ _just maybe,_ he should just talk to Donghyuck.   **(Siri, how to know if you're going insane?)**

 

* * *

 "Renjun I am serious, go get my phone now or I _will_ strangle you."

Donghyuck had been staring at Mark all last period, half of the reason may have been because he was presenting, and, therefore, the centre of attention, but Mark likes to pretend it's because he likes him back.

Yes, Mark likes to believe a lot of impossible things. Like that Siri can tell him everything.

The impromptu speech topic for english was Love, and honestly, Mark wanted to dive head first out the window even if there were rose bushes. _Of course, the one time Mark couldn't shut up about love._ All the other topics had been about _sports cars_ and _why dogs were great_ , but _Love?_ Mark was like a floundering fish of 'Um's and 'L-love?'s. At least nothing cheesy like, _'Donghyuck is love, Donghyuck is lyfe'_ came out. 

Renjun strolls out of the office like he hadn't just been threatened and hands Mark his phone. 'You're not coming home until you talk to Donghyuck, I'm locking you out, Mr. Grumpy Pants.' and that was it.

Renjun wasn't lying either. Jeno had literally called to say _'He won't even let me in, he's literally dead bolted the door I swear.'_ while Mark was wondering the school grounds. So, because Mark secretly cares about Renjun and because he lowkey ships JenJun, Mark walks over to a clueless looking Donghyuck who is thankfully still at school, waving awkwardly until they're looking at eachother and _oh god,_ Mark is overwhelmed yet again by this kid's beauty.

'H-hey there.' Mark says, giving himself a moment to realise he just stuttered and that he was, indeed, long gone. No denial was going to stop the truth.

Donghyuck doesn't respond, only looks surprised, and confused. 'I just wanted to tidy this up real quick, is it okay if we talk real quick?' Mark was shaking.

The younger boy nods, still looking confused but something else is happening behind those beautiful eyes. Mark cringes at that line, but it's true, Donghyuck looks drained.

'Renjun messaged you awhile back so you probably know what this is about, and really it's fine, you don't have to say what you think I want to hear, I already _know_ the answer, I just need, like, confrontation to end this feeling.' (Siri, how to breathe?)

'Ever since we first met that last period on a Monday over a month back, I guess I liked you? It grew. I wish it hadn't but it grew. Like a bad rash, it grew so quick and suddenly I was covered. Did I really just compare you to a rash? AnYway, When we became friends I was over the moon, every night we'd stay up talking about nothing and everything and that was the kind of thing I've wanted for years, but I know you don't see me that way, and it's fine, really. So if it's okay with you, can you just reject me now so we can go back to being friends again? I miss our weekend sleepovers.'

That was it. _Finally,_ Mark can breathe. The little bit of hope he'd clung onto shrivelled up like a deep sigh, accepted but sadly.

There's a long silence, Mark can't look up.

'Mark, _you idiot.'_ Okay, that makes Mark's head shoot up. 'Mark, you're such a bloody idiot, I really cannot believe this.'

Donghyuck looked genuinely upset. Mark suddenly feels the air grow cold and breathing was becoming a little more challenging than before. _Pretend like that didn't just hit your heart, you can cry when you get home._

'Do you ever check your phone? Whoever told you I didn't like you is a dumbass, and somehow I think that was yourself."

_ThEs ArE ReD LIGhTs MaRK AbORt MisSiSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

_'I like you too, idiot.'_

Never once in his life had Mark been this low on breath. Donghyuck, the boy he'd literally pined over for a whole month, liked him back??????

'Give me a minute, I think I'm dreaming.'

Donghyuck rolls his eyes fondly, hesitating slightly before speaking, 'It's Monday but every day is ours from now, come over and watch Iron Man with me? it's been two days since we last hung out! i-i mean, only if you want to.'

_/SCREAMS/ HE JUST SAID THAT. SIRI I REALLY NEED TO KNOW,, HOW TO SPEAK???? HOW TO BREATHE???_

/cough/ 'U-um sure, I mean that would be p-pretty grea- YES I'D LOVE TO.' 

Honestly, someone teach Mark how to be subtle because he clearly has no clue. If he thought his heart was being dumb before, now it was literally beating out of his chest. He could feel himself grinning before he even registered it. The sudden urge to hug the boy in front of him was too strong.

'Mark, you need- need to breathe, and so d-do I.' Donghyuck gasps, Mark laughs.

'Sorry, I forgot about the whole 'hating skinship' thing for a minute there.' Mark smiles, blushing slightly. Donghyuck is grinning extremely cheekily all of a sudden and _oh-_ before Mark can react, Donghyuck's arms around Mark this time and Mark fights the urge to run away. He lets it go and hugs back, only because it's Donghyuck and this is the first time a hug has felt so warm.

When Mark checks his messages he realises a) his phone isn't giving him notifications VERY IMPORTANT NOTIFICATIONS LIKE b) DONGHYUCK MESSAGING HIM TO SAY HIS PHONE BROKE AND THAT HE'S ONTO IT.

(Siri, help, my boyfriend is too cute.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this was okay for the ending!!!  
> i have no idea what i'm doing nd idk it's kinda low qual but i hope it's okay T-T  
> thank you so much for reading!! <3


End file.
